North's latest trash balloon launch suggests multifarious motives at play

North Korea launched another round of trash-laden balloons Thursday morning after sending around 420 trash balloons Wednesday night, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced Thursday.

Residue from trash-laden balloons are seen scattered around a park near the National Assembly building in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Thursday. [NEWS1]

North Korea launched another round of trash-laden balloons Thursday morning after sending around 420 trash balloons Wednesday night, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced Thursday.

The JCS confirmed that 20 trash balloons launched Wednesday night fell in Seoul and northern Gyeonggi. It also added that North Korea resumed launches of trash balloons at around 9 a.m. Thursday.

“The contents of the balloons were confirmed to be trash such as paper and plastic bottles, and analysis results showed that there were no hazardous substances,” the JCS said. “Citizens should be careful of falling balloons, and we urge citizens not to touch them and report them to the nearest military unit or police.”

North Korea usually launches balloons from its western regions, including Hwanghae Province, targeting Seoul, and the winds on Thursday were mainly in the eastern direction. During the last launch on Aug. 10 to 11, only 4 percent of around 240 balloons fell on South Korean territory due to strong winds.

“The wind direction changes depending on the altitude, so we cannot conclude that weather conditions will make it impossible for North Korea to launch additional balloons,” said a JCS official.

Wednesday’s launch was the 12th round of trash balloons sent by North Korea, while Thursday morning’s was the 13th, according to the JCS’s count.

North Korea has been sending trash balloons to the South since late May to protest activists in South Korea who distribute anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.

“We regret that North Korea has repeatedly engaged in such unconscionable behavior" even as the country recovers from severe damage from recent flooding, a Unification Ministry official said. “Pyongyang is using the leaflets from our civic organizations as an excuse for its trash balloon provocations, but the voluntary actions of civic organizations to deliver information can never be a reason for the actions carried out by North Korea.”

Trash-laden balloons are seen flying over from North Korea into Gyeonggi on Thursday morning. [YONHAP]

Some experts point out that South Korean civic organizations had recently halted their leaflet campaigns and that North Korea’s latest launch of trash balloons could signify other motives.

“The launch of North Korea’s trash balloons despite the absence of leafleting shows a multipurpose intention,” said Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies. “They could be aiming to strengthen regime cohesion by raising anti-South Korean sentiment ahead of North Korea’s national day on Sept. 9, and could also be aiming to create anxiety ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit and Chuseok.”

Kishida is set to visit South Korea on Friday and Saturday for a summit with President Yoon Suk Yeol, while the extended Chuseok holiday begins on Sept. 16 and lasts until Sept. 18.

North Korea has so far shown no signs of preparations for a military parade to mark its national day on Sept. 9, South Korea's Unification Ministry said Thursday. North Korea will commemorate the 76th anniversary of the regime's foundation this year.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]